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And while they were working on it, he’d surreptitiously pump Elias for any bits of information he could.
26
When Molly got back to the hardware store with Buttercup, she could barely believe her eyes when she saw who was awaiting her. “Charlie? Ani? What the hell? When? How?”
She flew across the linoleum floor and seized them each in a hug, one by one. Buttercup followed at her heels, then disappeared into the kitchen.
“We got here last night,” Charlie said with a grin after Molly let her go. She straightened to her full height, seeming even taller than ever, her blond head nearly brushing the tin ceiling. “We were waiting for you, but then we fell asleep.” She gestured at the mattress on the floor, which had two sleeping bags spread on top of it. “I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t wait too long.” She winked.
“I was…I mean…I had a…it’s a long story. I didn’t get a lot of sleep,” she finished on a yawn.
“Do tell.” Charlie flung her long body onto the overstuff armchair that sat next to the pot-bellied stove. “How many years have you been kissing frogs in New York, and barely a month after you get to Alaska you’re doing sleepovers?”
“It’s not like that.” Her face flamed, since it was kind of like that. She and Sam had done some stuff. But not all the stuff, and that was just one part of her overnight adventures. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
Ani perched on the bench under the glass storefront. Molly had the stray impulse to tell her to move away from such an exposed position, but that seemed like overkill. No one would shoot them in the middle of town, would they?
“It was Charlie’s idea. I…well, John and I had a terrible fight. I told him it was over. Then he told me I was a fucking bitch and he’d wasted ten years with me.” Her lovely eyes filled with tears, which spilled over before she could stop them. “I think it might really be over this time, I don’t know.”
Molly bit her lip so hard she thought she might draw blood. How many times had shit gone down that should have ended that relationship? And yet, Ani refused to pull the plug once and for all.
Not her place to judge. Support, don’t judge. That was her mantra, or at least it had been since Ani had told her to keep her opinion to herself unless Ani specifically asked for it.
She met Charlie’s gaze, and saw the same frustration she felt. “You two were out of reach, so it was on me to do the whole comforting scene. You know that’s not my specialty.”
“That’s not true. You were great,” Ani insisted. “You brought chocolate vodka and ice cream, and Kahlua and some weed and…actually, it’s all a little fuzzy now.”
Molly smiled at her rueful expression.
“I had the genius idea to take a break and come here for some higher quality comforting,” said Charlie.
Genius was right. It would be so much harder for John to manipulate Ani when she was so far away. Maybe this time Ani really would stick to her resolve.
Lila appeared from the kitchen just then, carrying a tray filled with an old-fashioned enamel coffee carafe and four mismatched mugs.
“Oh thank God,” Molly groaned. “If I didn’t get coffee soon, I was going to lick the spot on the armchair where I spilled some last week.”
Charlie popped out of the chair and peered at the cushion. “You could have warned me.”
“You could have warned me!” Molly countered. “How did you even get here? Not with S—” She snapped her mouth shut.
“Sam,” said Lila softly as she set the tray down on top of the cold stove. “Didn’t I tell you guys she was probably with Sam?”
“Did I say Sam?” Molly scrambled for another S name. “I mean Seymour.”
“There’s no Seymour in Firelight Ridge.”
“Seymour…as in, See More Scenery. It’s a flight service. Or at least it should be.” Molly figured it was worth a try, even though clearly they were all onto her.
“Give it up, girl,” said Charlie. “You were with this Sam, who I assume is the Sam Coburn we tried to book to fly us in here, but who was unavailable.”
Molly sighed and gave in. “He’s not as unavailable as you might think. That’s his dog, by the way.” She gestured at Buttercup, who was trotting in from the kitchen, licking his chops. Buttercup flopped at her feet with a happy sigh.
Charlie laughed and leaned over to give her a high five. “That’s what I like to hear. It’s about time you had more fun in your life.”
Molly wasn’t sure the word “fun” totally described the last twenty-four hours. “There’s more to it than that. It’s a long story, and I can’t really share the details. But I could probably use some help from you, Ani.” She turned to her friend, who paused in surprise, in the midst of futilely checking her phone for a connection.
“Something medical? Are you okay?”
